The beatitudes, or the commandments of blessedness, given us by the Saviour, do not in anyway annul the commandments of the Law. On the contrary, these commandments complement each other.

The Ten Commandments of the Law are restricted to prohibiting those acts which would be sinful. The Beatitudes explain to us how we may attain Christian perfection or grace.

The Ten Commandments were given in Old Testament times to restrain wild, primitive people from evil. The Beatitudes are given to Christians to show them what disposition to have in order to draw closer and closer to God, to acquire holiness, and together with that, blessedness, which is the highest degree of happiness.

Holiness, arising from proximity to God, is the loftiest blessedness, the greatest happiness that anyone could possibly desire.

The Old Testament Law is a strict code of righteousness, but the New Testament Law of Christ is the law of Divine love and grace, the only means by which people are given the strength to live in full observance of the Law of God and to approach perfection.

Jesus Christ, calling us to the eternal Kingdom of God, shows us the way to it through fulfillment of His commandments. For their fulfillment He, the King of Heaven and earth, promises eternal blessedness in the future eternal life.

Our Saviour teaches:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

2. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

4. Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

9. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in Heaven.

In each of these teachings of the Lord, one should observe the commandments on the one hand and the promises of reward on the other.

For the fulfillment of the commandments of the Beatitudes it is necessary to have contact with God through prayer, both internal and external. One must struggle against sinful inclinations through fasting, abstinence, and so on.

The First Beatitude

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed — joyful in the highest degree and pleasing to God; poor in spirit — humble, those who are conscious of their imperfections and unworthiness before God, and never think that they are better or more holy than others.

Spiritual lowliness is the conviction that our entire life and all our spiritual and physical blessings, such as life, health, strength, spiritual ability, knowledge, riches, and every good thing of life, all this is the gift of our Creator God. Without help from Heaven, it is impossible to acquire either material well-being or spiritual riches. All this is the gift of God.

Spiritual lowliness is called humility. Humility is the foundation of Christian virtue, because it is the opposite of pride, and pride introduced all evil into the world. Due to pride the first among the angels became the Devil; the first people sinned, their descendants quarreled and went to war among themselves from pride. The first sin was pride (Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 10:15).

Without humility it is impossible to return to God. Nor are any of the other Christian virtues possible. Humility permits us to know ourselves, correctly to assess our worth and deficiencies. It acts beneficially in the fulfillment of our obligations to our neighbor, arouses and strengthens in us faith in God, hope and love for Him. It attracts the mercy of God to us and also...

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...﻿Beatitudes
are the set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
comes from the Latin adjective beātitūdō which means "happy", "fortunate", or "blissful".
The Beatitudes describe eight blessings in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew ( Matthew 5:3–12 ). Four of such "blessings" also appear in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke (Luke 6:20–26), and are followed by four woes that mirror the blessings.
Each Beatitude consists of two phrases: the condition and the result. In almost every case the condition is from familiar Old Testament context, the Ten commandments, but Jesus teaches a new interpretation.
The Ten Commandments or Decalogue (10 words) was given by God on Mt. Horeb (also known as Mt. Sinai) to Moses around 1280 BC. They are the core of the moral teachings of Israel and have come down to Christianity as part of Divine Revelation. The Church in commenting on the Commandments sees in them the totality of the negative and positive moral law, the things we should not do, as well as the things we should do.
the message of Jesus is one of humility, charity, and love. He teaches transformation of the inner person.
Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life which will ultimately lead to reward. Love becomes the motivation for the Christian.
All of the Beatitudes have an eschatological (meaning: relating to the end of the world) meaning,...

...﻿BILLONES, ANDREY KENN M. JANUARY 30, 2015
TAD-Y, FRANCES MAE C.
MT1-D
REED 2
“The Eight Beatitudes”
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Someone prays every day, but always offers pray for others and not him or her.
A person gives up all of his or her free time in order to volunteer.
A family works to ensure that God is part of their daily lives.
Reflection:
Showing humility to others is the best explanation for the firstbeatitudes that explains the willingness and unselfish of helping other people and God is always on the top of the ladder He is always part of the company of the family
"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
The families and friends of the victims of 9-11 are in despair, but the Lord shall provide for them, whether now or in the future.
A person loses a very close family member. God provides for that person by allowing them to reunite in the hereafter.
A family is torn apart and a child vanishes. The parents never find the child in this life, but the family is reunited in the next world.
Reflection:
A close person who passed away is a painful trial in life but God has his own purpose of why he gives this the tragedy for he may have a purpose to give others the happiness or lessons. He will not allow us not to reunite.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
One individual feeds a homeless individual.
Groups of people anonymously leave...

...INTRODUCTION
The eighth beatitude announces an eschatological blessing on those who are persecuted not so much because they are persecuted but because they are committed to righteousness in spite of being persecuted. Many feel victimized or persecuted but 1Peter 3:13 reminds us, “Who can harm you if you devote yourselves to doing good? If you suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.” Thus, the struggle against the unrighteous, unjust oppressive structures must continue remaining in righteousness in spite of being persecuted. In this paper let us see about the persecution for the sake of righteousness and the blessedness of the persecuted and the kingdom of Heaven.
1. The Sermon on the Mount
The first and longest of the five speeches is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. The introduction to the Sermon on the Mount contains four sections: the settings (5:1-2), the Beatitudes (5:3-12), the identity of Jesus’ followers (5:13-16), and the teaching about the Law (5:17-20). The setting (5:1-2) on the mountain stands in contrast to the plain that serves as the setting of the Lukan sermon (6:17-20a). By placing this first and most dramatic instance of Jesus’ teaching on the mountain, Matthew sought to evoke biblical ideas about mountains as places of divine revelation and about Mount Sinai as the place where God’s will for Israel was revealed. But note that Jesus gives the teaching; he does not receive it as Moses did.
To...

...The beatitudes are eight statements taught by Jesus. They are concerned with virtue and how a believer in Jesus Christ can achieve that virtue. The Beatitudes are a map of life, a series of directives helping us on our journey to be with God. They also designate the actual condition of people who follow God's guidelines.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In the book it states, We are poor in spirit when we recognize that everything we are and everything we have are pure gifts from God. This means that we should help others because we understand that if God hadn't given us the gifts we would be poor to.
"Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted." We mourn when we are sorrowful over a sinful world and over our own sins. We are saddened over injustice-children who are homeless and hungry; people denied basic human rights like the right to life, economic opportunity; people whose lives are tragically shattered because of drug abuse, misused sexuality, prejudice, war, and so on. This will help us act and help the people we see in trouble. We can help people come to the way of God.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land." We are the meek when we accept others with compassion and gentility. This will change the world and make it a better place. If act with kindness towards other people then the people will be kind to other people, and eventually the world will change.
"Blessed are...

...Beatitudes(and meanings)
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven
- To be completely open to the word of God. There is humbleness in heaven.
2. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
- If we appreciate others and the blessings of God, we will be protected and comforted by God.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
-A humble or kind person will live a good life on earth. They are obedient to God.
4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied
- A desire for justice will lead to fulfilment of your life. You will be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
- If you love others you will be loved back.
6. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
- If you have a pure heart, you are free from selfishness. You will be filled with happiness and see God in heaven.
7. Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons.
-By striving for peace between God and individuals. You will be considered a child of God.
8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs in the Kingdom of Heaven.
-If you follow Jesus, you will be persecuted but will receive eternal life in heaven.
Jesus taught them in the Sermon on the Mount. There are eight of them and each verse starts with “blessed”. They tell us, as Catholics how we should live and what values we should have.
Glossary Terms
Bible: The...

...The beatitudes are eight statements taught by Jesus. They are concerned with virtue and how a believer in Jesus Christ can achieve that virtue. The Beatitudes are a map of life, a series of directives helping us on our journey to be with God. They also designate the actual condition of people who follow God's guidelines. They are simply stated, but are profound in meaning. They guide. They point. They teach. They show us the values that Christ cares about. These values if followed, can not only bring a believer into a state of peace and happiness, but also right into the Kingdom of God after our journey on this earth is over.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the first Beatitude. It tells us that we should accept people for who they are and not the material things they have. You should not treat a person who lives in a nice house and drives a nice car any different then someone who lives in a less desirable house and drives an old car. You should treat everyone how you would like to be treated. Just because someone cannot afford some of the things as you might be able to doesn't mean they should be treated any different. The virtue that Jesus would want his followers to develop would be liberality. Liberality is a spirit of generosity for a proper and worthy charity that may involve the donation of our time, our money, or other possessions.
This virtue, liberality, is in...

...Beatitude
SUFFERING
Blessed are they who morn, Blessed are they who suffer persecution for the sake of justice & holiness.
In the 12th Chapter of John’s gospel verse 24. Jesus tells us, “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it self remain alone.” Every one of us has a hard cell of selfishness around our heart. Just as the grain of wheat has this outer cell around the inner life and it is only if that hard cell is broken that the grain of wheat is able to produce fruit and to come alive. In each of us this hard ego centric selfish cell, stands between our conscious life and our inner self. The Holy Spirit dwell within the inner self. Therefore unless we succeed in breaking open this hard cell we’ll keep God in prison within our inner-self. And he is unable to breakout and to penetrate and to influence our external activities. If however, we succeed in breaking open this hard cell, we become a transparent being. we become so open to God’s spirit, that it shine through our every thought, word, deed and emotion. This was the way Jesus lived his life totally open to the Holy Spirit. This is the goal of every disciple of Jesus. How then do we break open this hard cell that stands between our outer nature and our inner self....

...
9 Beatitudes
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
With this phrase, "poor in spirit," most likely Jesus was speaking of our spiritual condition of poverty, the recognition of our need for God. "The kingdom of heaven" refers to people who acknowledge God as their King.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Those who mourn" speaks of those who express deep sorrow over sin, or those who repent from their sins. The freedom found in the forgiveness of sins and the joy of eternal salvation is the "comfort" of those who repent.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Similar to "the poor," "the meek" are those who submit to God's authority, making him Lord. Revelation 21:7 says God's children will "inherit all things."
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
"Hunger and thirst" speaks of a deep need and a driving passion. This "righteousness" refers to the Lord, Jesus Christ, our righteousness. To "be filled" is the satisfaction of the soul's desire.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Simply put, we reap what we sow. Those who demonstrate mercy will receive mercy. Likewise, those who know great mercy will show great mercy. This mercy is shown through forgiveness and also by offering kindness and compassion toward others.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The "pure in heart" are...